MANY of the new breed movers and shakers of Bermuda were in the congregation at St. Theresa's Roman Catholic Cathedral, Hamilton on Tuesday when the late Frederick Warrington Yearwood (FWY) was eulogized for his inordinate double deal of riches, materially and spiritually, and ownership of an estimated ten percent of Bermuda's real estate.

Bishop Robert Kurt, CR led the tributes, followed by former Premier, Dr. the Hon. David Saul and Mr. Yearwood's Godsons, Senator Bob Richards and Dudley Thomas, Jr.

Mr. Yearwood died on September 9, at the age of 96. He was indeed, an enigma, said Dr. Saul. A former dishwasher at the Elbow Beach Hotel, early in his career he became the richest black man in Bermuda. He was extremely wealthy, a truly self-made man, but also self-effacing to the extreme. He never married, and used to say the only woman he ever truly was genuinely fond of was the lady who became the mother of Sen. Bob Richards and wife of the late former Premier Sir Edward Richards.

"Fred could have lived in any house in Bermuda," said Dr. Saul.

"But instead he rented a small apartment in the Kenwood Club in Reid Street and lived there for decades, quite content in his little hobbit hole. He dined at The Spot restaurant every morning for over three decades with his life-long friend and onetime fellow hotel worker "Sheik" Mareria. Often staying home by himself in the evenings, he was an avid reader, sometimes going out for dinner with his many friends from every level of society. He liked his own company and was content."

The most intriguing part of Dr. Saul's eulogy was his description of how, some me 80 years ago, a young Fred Yearwood arrived in Bermuda from St. Kitts on one of the lady boats which regularly plied the route from the Caribbean and Bermuda.

He was 16 years old, knew no one, and had one pound sterling in his pocket - probably about the equivalent of $50 in today's money. Half of that amount was immediately paid over to the Bermuda government's immigration authorities, for the simple reason that, should young Fred Yearwood ever be found guilty of a misdemeanor of any type, that ten shillings would be used by the authorities to cover the cost of his immediate passage back to St. Kitts!

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